Futures Pointing To Modestly Lower Open On Wall Street

3/27/2012 9:04 AM ET

After moving sharply higher over the course of the previous session, stocks could give back some ground in early trading on Tuesday. The major index futures are currently pointing to a modestly lower open, with the Dow futures down by 14 points.

Profit taking may contribute to any early weakness on Wall Street, with some traders likely to cash in on Monday's strong gains amid indications that the markets are overbought.

Nonetheless, traders have recently shown a reluctance to sell stocks amid concerns about missing out on any further upside for the markets.

Trading could be impacted by the release of a report from Standard & Poor's on home prices in major U.S. metropolitan areas in the month of January. Prices are expected to edge down by about 0.2 percent.

The Conference Board is also scheduled to release its report on consumer confidence in the month of March not long after the start of trading.

Economists expect the consumer confidence index to edge up to 70.9 in March after it jumped more than nine points to a one-year high of 70.8 in February.

Among individual stocks, shares of Lennar (LEN) may be in focus after the homebuilder reported first quarter earnings that fell year-over-year but came in above analyst estimates. The company also reported a 33 percent increase in new orders.